Gridlock on Capitol Hill Over Immigration Plan Surprises Precisely No One

Posted on Jul 22, 2014

So there’s this plan circulating in Congress, hatched by Senate Democrats, that would call for some $2.7 billion to attempt to deal with one pressing aspect of the immigration quandary: what to do about the growing ranks of migrant children crossing the U.S. border from Mexico. Think it’ll fly?

Well, no. Even before the proposal was set to take a more definitive shape with a formal pitch by its supporters scheduled for Wednesday, Repubilcan adversaries were champing at the bit for another round of partisan tomfoolery, as The New York Times reported Tuesday evening:

The impasse was another measure of how the partisan gridlock that has gripped Capitol Hill has doomed almost any attempt at compromise. Since the bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate last year died in the Republican-controlled House this summer, the flood of children at the southern border has emerged as a fevered proxy fight over the nation’s broken immigration system.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we’re on a track to do absolutely nothing,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican. “That’s a tragedy, not just for us but for all of these children who are being lured to our borders.”

“Already, the debate is morphing into something far larger than a dispute over funding and immigration law,” the paper added, a little late to the party with that particular observation.

It is also morphing into the cause célèbre of the 2014 election, prodding the likes of Rick Perry into showy displays and camera-ready stunts. Although there won’t be any action in the form of legislative resolution on this debate, we can all sit back and watch our elected representatives further disincentivize voters from extending their stays on Capitol Hill.